Cleaning device



p 1965 H. s. VISMAN ETAL 3,204,277

CLEANING DEVICE Filed Sept. 18. 1961 FIG. 3

INVENTORS HENDRIX SIERIK VISHAN GERRIT KLUIN ATTORNEY 5 United StatesPatent 4 Claims. (c1. -444 This invention relates to a dish washing orcleaning device, and relates more particularly to a cleaning devicecomprising a plurality of substantially circular plates or disks formedfrom a flexible and resilient material, the plates being provided in theperipheries with incisions, scallops, grooves or bevels, and attached attheir centers to a handle.

Heretofore, cleaning devices have been constructed with plates of aresilient material which are separated from one another by spacers orwashers. The flexible plates and their respective spacers are thenmounted on a long stem or anchor which in turn is fixed longitudinallyinto the handle of a mop or cleaning device. Such a device isparticularly intended for manual use in general cleaning applications.

It has been found that in everyday household use this known type ofcleaning device is not quite satisfactory. Moreover, the construction isrelatively complicated and, therefore, the finished product is ratherexpensive to the ultimate consumer. However, these drawbacks no longerexist with the new cleaning device of the present invention.

Therefore, an important object of this invention is to provide acleaning device which will be free from the foregoing drawbacks, andwhich device will be especially simple in construction and eflicient inuse.

It is another object of this invention to form a cleaning device fromsubstantially circular sheets of a flexible material.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a cleaningdevice formed from circular plates of a regenerated cellulose spongematerial.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cleaning deviceformed from circular disks having grooved, beveled or scalloped edges.

For further understanding of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference should be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

The cleaning device of the present invention is of a very simpleconstruction and is very suitable for all kinds of general cleaningapplications. The device of the instant invention includes an elongatedhandle and a removable cleaning head supported on one end of saidhandle, the head comprising a plurality of substantially circular platesof a flexible and resilient material having beveled, grooved orscalloped lobed edges. In accordance with this invention, plates arejoined at their centers to the handle by means of a resilient lockingand fastening means. The invention also contemplates employing a handleformed from a wire that has been bent or curved into an elongated loop.The invention further contemplates the use of a fastening meansincluding male and female members which looks the plates together and isadapted to be attached to the handle.

When the plates are placed against one another, a single unit is formedwhich is very suitable for use in kitchens, restaurants, laboratories,hospitals, oflices, industrial plants, service stations and the like asa cleaning device for glasses, dishes, bottles, vases, trays, bowls,

3,204,277 Patented Sept. 7, 1965 ice buckets, flat surfaces, curvedsurfaces and for other general cleaning.

Preferably, the material from which the plates are formed is highlyresilient and compressible. For example, plates made from an artificialspongiform material such as a regenerated cellulose sponge. Suchmaterial is so flexible that a fine, cup-shaped mop head will thereforebe obtained by locking plates of this material firmly together.

The fastening of the plates against one another and to the handle bymeans of a fastening means comprising a press stud and a femalereceptive member therefor has been found particularly simple andinexpensive. Preferably, the press stud and female receptive member inthe form of a base plate member should be manufactured from a materialfrom which they can be obtained by a simple extrusion or injectionmolding process. According to the instant invention, syntheticthermoplastic resinous substances, and preferably the class of materialsknown as the polyethylenes, or those materials that are basedonpolyamides, are particularly suitable for this purpose. Such materialsare strong and yet relatively soft. Consequently the fastening meanswill neither break easily and, at the same time, it will never impartscratches or cracks to the materials with which it will come intocontact.

In the preferred embodiment of the cleaning device of the presentinvention, the fastening means is constructed as a double press studsuch that one locking member of the fastening means locks the platestogether, and the other locking member serves to fasten the plates thusbundled or gathered, to the handle. That is, two locking members areemployed between which something may be locked. An advantage of thisconstruction is that the cleaning head of the cleaning device can beattached to the handle as a separate unit. Such cleaning head assembliescan be marketed separately since they can simply be pressed onto thehandle of a similar cleaning device, the working head of which is wornout.

Preferably one of the detachable members of the fastening means isprovided near its periphery with one or more indentations. Theseindentations permit the easy access of a tapering object, as, forexample, a screw driver. With the use of such a tool, the press stud canbe unfastened in a very simple and eflicient manner.

An additional simplification of this construction is obtained if one ofthe members of the fastening means is formed integrally with the handle.For instance, the end of the handle may be so constructed that it formsan open or closed eyelet which serves to lock onto the press stud.

In order that the cleaning device of this invention may have easy accessto spots that are diflicult to reach, as, for example, in the case ofvases, the head may be so formed that the axis of the press stud lies atan acute angle with respect to the handle. This can be done by manuallybending the end of the handle into the desired shape.

It should be noted that the well-known cleaning devices comprising ahandle and a cleaning head are made from a plurality of substantiallycircular, flexible and resilient scalloped plates, said plates beingarranged so that the grooves or scallops are placed one on top ofanother. These plates are then doubled at least partly, and are claspedby the eye-shaped end of the handle which passes through twodiametrically opposed series of grooves or incisions to secure the mophead to the handle.

It has been found that this construction has disadvantages as comparedwith the above described construction of this invention. That is, theplates or disks of the prior art device are strongly deformed. Thiscauses increased wear and reduces the useful life of the device.

Moreover, the device of the instant invention is not as large or bulkyas the prior art cleaning devices. ever, the main drawback of the knownmop is that after the plates have been subject to some degree of wear,the eye-shaped end of the handle will become exposed. 7 Such a device isthen far less suitable since it is incapable of completely cleaning downto the bottom of drinking glasses. This drawback has also beenencountered in washing other dishes, such as plates and cups.

Another embodiment of the fastening means may simply consist of abipartite device, one of the two parts being a locking member which mayhave the simple shape of a small, round plate with an aperture in themiddle thereof. The part of the fastening means which is directlyassociated with the handle may, moreover, be shaped such that it isprevented from turning relative to the handle. In the case where the mophandle ends in an eyelet, this too, can also be locked between the twoparts of the fastening means together with the plates.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown by theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the cleaning device of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side sectional view of the head of the deviceshowing the anchoring or securing means;

FIGURE 3 is a frontal view of the base plate andthe eye of the handle;and

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of an embodiment of a single resilient flexibleplate having scalloped edges, a plurality of which may be employed inoverlapping positions in forming the cleaning head of the cleaningdevice of the invention.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several viewsof the drawing.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the reference numeral 1 designates a handleof galvanized steel wire about 3 mm. in diameter. This flexible wire isbent around and shaped to form an ablong, loop shaped handle 2 which iscovered with insulating tubing (not shown). A plastic cap 3 is providedon the handle at the point where the wire is joined, preferably by spotwelding. This cap 3 is kept in position by a local deformation (notshown) on the single section of the handle 1 on the side of the capremote from the handle 2.

Positioned at the end of the handle 1 are plates 4, 5

and 6 which are attached to the handle by means of press stud 7. Theplates 4, 5 and 6 are formed from a spongelike regenerated cellulosematerial. When swollen with the usual aqueous cleaning solutions, theseplates have a thickness of about 15 mm. As more clearly shown in FIGURE4, each of the plates have a substantially circular configuration whichhas been scalloped, grooved, or beveled into at least an octalobal shapeconsisting of a plurality of equal lobes or petals. These plates may beprovided at their centers with a substantially circular aperture topermit easy access of the member 11 of press stud 7. I As shown inFIGURE 1, the lobes or petals of the plates are preferably placedin anout-of-registry position. That is, they are not aligned. Furthermore, inthe preferred embodiment of this invention, no such aperture is providedbeforehand. Preferably, the aperture is formed by forcing, by means ofpressure, the thickened member 11 through the plates when the cleaningdevice is being assembled.

FIGURE 2 shows a sectional view of the fastening means. The press stud 7consists of a flat disk 8 and a long bulbous knob or projection 11. Theprojection 11 permits the joining of washer 9 and base plate 10.Preferably, the separable fastening means consisting of disk 8, washer9, base plate 10 and knob 11 is formed from a polyethylene or polyamidematerial. Such materials are flexible, resilient and elastic and yet aresufficiently strong enough ,to permit the, snap pressure fit Howthat isdesired for male member 11 and female member 10. Washer 9 preferably hasthe form of a small, fiat disk with an aperture in the center thereof toaccommodate knob 11. 'Base plate 10, on the other hand, has the form ofa sphericalsegment. Cleaning plates 4, 5 and 6 can thus be locked inbetween disk 8 and washer 9 by means of the pressure fit of knob 11 withbase plate 10.

FIGURE 3 illustrates .a frontal view of the base plate 10. On the flatside thereof is a square or diamond shaped recess 12 receiving andaccommodating the upper end of the handle 1 which has been bent into theform of an eyelet 13. However, by providing recess 12 in circular form,it is possible for said recess and consequently also for the eyelet 13and the entire press stud to have smaller dimensions. This is ofadvantage when cleaning very narrow glasses or the like.

Finally, an indentation 14 is provided in the periphery of the baseplate 10 and positioned on the flat side. The indentation may serve as ameans for detaching the cleaning head consisting of, press stud 7,washer 9, cleaning plate 4, 5, 6, and base plate 10 from the supportingend of handle 1. For'instance, a screw driver may be inserted into saidindentation and the press stud 7 and base plate 10 may then'be simplypushed away from each other.

.Hence, the unit consisting of stud 7, cleaning plates 4, 5, 6 andWasher 9 may be disassembled from the cleaning device as an integralunit and eyelet 13 easily may be lifted from within recess 12 of baseplate 10 to separate base plate 10 fromthe supporting end of handle 1.

The foregoing specification is intended to be illustrative of oneembodiment of this invention. It is to be understood that the structuraldetails of this disclosure may be varied by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

What is claimed is: v

1. A cleaning device comprising an elongated handle and a cleaning headsupported on one end of said handle, said cleaning head comprising aplurality of overlapping, flexible and resilient, substantially circularplates formed of an artificial sponge material and a resilient fasteningmeans formed of'asynthetic thermoplastic material connecting saidflexible plates to said supporting end of said handle, said fasteningmeans including a separately removable resilient projection member, oneend of which defines a bulbous knob and extends through the centers ofsaid flexible plates toward said supporting end of said handle, theother end of said projection member having an enlarged portion, tolocally deform and hold said flexible plates in pressure contact attheir centers, and a resilient base plate member attached to saidsupporting end of said handle and having a recess receiving in snappressure locking engagement said bulbous knob of said projection memberextending through said flexible plates, said resilient fastening meansincluding a separate washer positioned between said flexible plates andsaid base plate member, said washer having an aperture'therein adaptedto receive said end of said projection member extending through saidflexible plates and providing a locking pressure engagement of saidflexible plates between the enlarged portion of said projection memberand said washer, said supporting end of said handle defining an eyelet,the surface of said base plate member toward said washer being providedwith a recess corresponding in configuration to said eyelet and adaptedto receive said eyelet therein,and said eyelet being positioned withinand maintained in locking engagement within said recess by means of saidwasher.

2. The cleaning device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said flexibleplates are scalloped along the peripheries thereof and said flexibleplates are positioned 5 relative to one another in angular displacementsuch that the lobes of said scallops thereon substantially are invertical non-alignment.

3. The cleaning device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the axis ofsaid projection member of said fastening means is oblique to the axis ofthe major portion of said handle.

4. The cleaning device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said flexibleplates are formed of a regenerated cellulose sponge material and saidresilient fastening means is formed of a synthetic thermoplasticmaterial selected from the group consisting of polyethylene andpolyamides.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/15 Kidney15-211 6/21 Withycombe 15-224 X 10/ 5 0 Alvarez.

10/53 Tworck 24-108 1/56 Gesell et al. 15-223 X 3/58 Sanborn 15-21011/62 Hartmann 15-244 X FOREIGN PATENTS 6/51 Belgium.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

1. A CLEANING DEVICE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HANDLE AND A CLEANING HEAD SUPPORTED ON ONE END OF SAID HANDLE, SAID CLEANING HEAD COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF OVERLAPPING, FLEXIBLE AND RESILIENT, SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCULAR PLATES FORMED OF AN ARTIFICIAL SPONGE MATERIAL AND A RESILENT FASTENING MEANS FORMED OF A SYNTHETIC THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL CONNECTING SAID FLEXIBLE PLATED TO SAID SUPPORTING END OF SAID HANDLE, SAID FASTENING MEANS INCLUDING A SEPARATELY REMOVABLE RESILIENT PROJECTION MEMBER, ONE END OF WHICH DEFINES A BULBOUS KNOB AND EXTENDS THROUGH THE CENTER OF SAID FLEXIBLE PLATES TOWARD SAID SUPPORTING END OF SAID HANDLE, THE OTHER END OF SAID PROJECTION MEMBER HAVING AN ENLARGED PORTION, TO LOCALLY DEFORM AND HOLD SAID FLEXIBLE PLATES IN PRESSURE CONTACT AT THEIR CENTERS, AND A RESILIENT BASE PLATE MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID SUPPORTING END OF SAID HANDLE AND HAVING A RECESS RECEIVING IN SNAP PRESSURE LOCKING ENGAGEMENT SAID BUL- 